13 A Hard Battle

He finally got to the village square and what greeted him was 21 bandits on which 16 swordsmen, four archers and a big guy with a war hammer. For some reason two of the four archers got good equipment and same for two swordsmen.

The big guy spoke with a loud voice, "ARE YOU THE BASTARD WHO WENT AROUND CAUSING TROUBLE FOR ME AND MY GUYS!?". The archers cocked the arrows in their bows and swordmen drew their swords. "This is not gonna be easy" Saito said in a low voice.

He then raised his voice a level and said, "So what if its me!? You got a problem with that you big ass beard punk!?". The bandits were shocked to see that there is someone who has guts to provoke their leader. They looked at their leader to see how he's reacting for the provocation. He just stood there, hands folded and a smirk on his face.

"So, your a tough guy huh? I'll see how tough you are!" He said and made a hand sign. All the 16 swordsmen started running towards Saito while archers fired their arrows.

Saito lifted the corner of his lips to a smirk and darted out towards the upcoming bandits with his blade drawn. Both sides clashed. It was technically a slaughter as its a fight of 1 versus 16 and four archers.

Saito didn't care if he was outnumbered or out matched. When he was still in training in the ranger battalion, he was taught to face his fear and test his limits! After getting transferred to the "S" training boot camp, he was taught that no matter what the odds are! You should go down or the enemy should! If you are gonna go down, go with good show and take as many as mother fu*kers you can with you to hell!

*clang* *clang* *clang* *whoosh*

Swords clashing against blade, arrows passing by the length of a thread. In all that brawl, he was still holding up his defense tight. It should be him who got pushed to the edge of the limit, but the opposite side was struggling to keep up with his rampage of strikes.

Archers aim accurately and yet he was able to dodge it just in the right time. It actually his instincts which was telling him that there is danger coming at him, and with that instinct, he was able to doge at the right time and even parry the upcoming blow from the swords.

Eight already succumbed to his blade while the rest are on their limits of falling down on the ground due to exhaustion. The remaining eight rounded him up while panting heavily, except for the two swordsmen who seemed different than the rest.

The big guy who is supposedly the boss of the bandits is standing with his eyes shining in a critical light and the smirk on his face was gone.

Originally he thought that it should be some kind of mercenary who was passing by and decided to help the village when he saw it being out run by bandits or so he thought it should be like this, well he was not wrong in that thought except one part, Saito is not a mercenary, he was a soldier. And as a soldier it's his job to protect the weak and save the innocents! Also his pockets was not heavy and he might need some coins which was also one of the reason he decided to step in and help them.

Six of the bandits looked at their boss while the rest two of them looked at Saito like venomous snakes which caught the sight of their ancestral nemesis. The archers were also trying to find an opening, but sad luck that they couldn't.

Finally the two swordsmen made a move. They both lunged at him with an incredible speed that what they did before was not fighting but warm up for the real fight. Looking at the two swordsmen, the boss of the bandits lift the corner of his lip. 'Hmp, trying to show off too much? These guys are silver ranked in Dark Mercenary guild, even I will have a hard time fighting them! Let's see how you face your death' were the thoughts of the bandit boss.

Saito did not see that coming! He instinctively brought his blade and blocked the sword. The impact of that strike was strong yet he held his ground and kept him at bay. Imediately, he felt danger to his left side and he quickly took a step back. As he did, a sword almost cutting through the air went past his face. He didn't have time to rejoice as another sword came at for his neck from the front. He quickly brought his blade near his neck and parried it.

'Tch, the teamwork of these two are other worldly! Wait...I am in another world. I need to do something quick or I'll be getting the wrong end of the blade!' His mind was in total chaos while thinking for a solution to end this trouble he is currently facing.

He immediately retreated five feet in one jump and slashed his blade in front of him aiming at the two swordsmen. And to his surprise, the slash sent a sword wave towards one of them and pushed him back ten feet. He and his partner as well as the archers looked at him with a bit of a shock for a moment and regained their previous composure.

Even Saito himself was shocked to the core, luckily he had that red scarf to hide what his face was showing. He didn't do anything but it felt like muscle movement. He felt that he should jump back and slash with his sword, but never did he thought that it would send out a sword wave.

The onlookers were also shocked and they showed that in their face. When the village people and guards saw him being sucked in the group of bandits, they lost hope for escaping. But suddenly, they were shocked to see that he could hold his own against so many swords while dodging the arrows. When the count reached eight, they saw a glimpse of hope from escaping their death or being sold as slaves. Even that hope was shattered after seeing the two swordsmen started fighting like monsters. Yet he was able to shock them once again with that sword slash.

To some people, that sword slash was just an sword skill, but to the people who knew how to wield a sword or know about skills, that sword slash was an energy attack.

Energy attacks are not something that you can perform just because your a swordsman. Energy attacks are considered as the high level attacks in swordsmanship, even some veteran swordsmen who faced countless battles of life and death couldn't just like that perform it with ease, luck and concentration plays an important role in energy skills.

Although luck and concentration are important for these type of attacks, Saito didn't need concentration and luck was always with him in the shape of a katana. When pushed to the brink of danger, Nirashi who was silently absorbing the soul energy of the ones who died by the blade(her), used her powers to help him at the last moment.

Looking at each other, the two swordsmen nodded in understanding that if they don't go all out, they won't be able to go ever again. They closed their eyes and started focusing, soon their body started to emit an terrifying dark aura. Suddenly, they both darted towards Saito at an terrifying speed that they looked like blurred shadow.

Saito's eyes were wide due to the shock of the scenario. He again brought his blade in front of him instinctively and unbelievably somehow managed to parry the both swords at the same time. 'I'm taught to not afraid the known! These things are under the category of fu*cking unknown! Is there even a tooth fairy with a RPG in this world!?' he deliberately shouted inside his mind while trying to keep his composure calm.

The tables have turned as our protagonist was being pushed to the limit. Strikes after strikes pour down on like a rain. He was trying to find a loop in their flawless attack while trying to defend himself. Suddenly, he found a flaw in their now almost flawless attack. The two of them are switching while striking! If one of them landed a strike then he retreats and let's the other to strike and take his place as the cycle continues. 'If I could somehow break their rhythm, then these guys are puppies in the forest!' he thought in his mind and shouted at the top of his lungs, "ITS MY TURN NOW A$$holes!". His shout stunned them momentarily and the break in their rhythm finally appeared!

He immediately used the opening and sliced the neck of one guy and used the momentum to spin and stab the other.

There was a brief silent throughout the square.

Everyone had their eyes wide open. Even the bandit boss was so shocked that his eyes will jump out of his eyes socket. No one had thought that he would be able to stand again their rhythmic rain of attacks, yet he was has not only survived the attacks but also killed them both! He killed the trumps of the bandit group! Not the bandit boss, not the archers who were also part of the Mercenaries and definitely not the villagers thought that he would be able to kill them both.

Not leaving the others to be dazed by his performance, he quickly took four kunai from inside his robe and threw it towards the archers. The archers were too starstruck that they forgot to dodge the incoming kunai. Unexpectedly to Saito, all the kunai hit the mark accurately (Hit rate: 777%).

Losing the archers and their aces, the bandits lost their morale. Their faces started to show fear. Trembling their bodies they started to take steps back. Saito knew that if these guys were to live, they will not take the path of good and will once again take the path of a bandit. He held his blade firmly and started reaping lives of the bandits.

Soon the six remaining bandits also lost their lives and lay dead on the ground. His armor had a bit of blood on it which sprayed on him when he slit the throat of a bandit. He now looked like a demon.

He slowly turned his head towards the final boss of the event, the boss of the bandits. He took a deep breath and let it out and said, "it's over! Give up now and there is a chance you might live if you swear to give up the life of a bandit or else" he pointed his blade at him. The bandit boss smiled, "hmhmhmhm....hehehehehe.... Hahahahaha..... HAHAHAHAHA!" and he started to laugh like a maniac. "Did you really think I would just give up you bastard!? Even if those guys from the Dark Mercenary guild are strong, I'm stronger than them! Don't think you can defeat me like them!" the bandit boss shouted at him as he draw his war hammer from his back and took his stance.

Saito smirked at him and held his blade with both hands as he took his stance. They both stood there silently for a brief moment. Suddenly, the bandit boss launched at Saito with an explosive speed and struck his war hammer at him. Saito parried the war hammer successfully and retreated.

...

Inside the Shadow Palace of 7th Hell,

The lord and Agiel stared at the fog screen without blinking their eyes. The lord spoke, "Compared to this fight, all of previous fights of his seems like a child play, what is your comment on this Agiel?" he turned towards his most faithful companion and asked. Ageil didn't reply as he was too engrossed in the fight, he could clearly see the level of skills Saito posses. He can hold is own even with out the sword aura against the ones who learned that from years of practice. Even he himself knew that learning sword aura is not easy nor hard but depends on luck whether you can learn it in one day or one year.

Seeing Ageil was deeply focused on the battle shown in the screen, he shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the fog screen. He too was surprised to see that he can perform energy attacks without the help of sword aura. Nevertheless, he felt that he made the right choice on making him his champion.

.....

Inside the supreme heaven, lay a beautiful garden. Flowers blooming, birds singing and animals resting and jumping around making the scenery harmonious. In this beautiful place, there was a women who looked extremely beautiful. Her jade like skin and her green hairs resonating with her green dress showing her curvey figure looked incredibly captivating. If the nature is called beautiful, then she will be called the painting of nature.

She is the goddess of nature, Alathia.

She's looking at the tree hole which had a mirror showing the fight between Saito and the bandit boss. Her lips lifted upwards as a smile took place in that beautiful face of the goddess. She looked even more captivating as the smile bloomed on her face. If there were any men near and saw this, they would definitely faint due to her beauty. As the old saying goes, "beauty knows no bounds" is extremely fit for her.

She then said in a sweet melodious voice, "my my, how big you have grown now! So strong, so thoughtful! Just like your ancestral great grandfather! If he were to see you now, he would definitely be proud of you for who you are now, I should thank little Lohar for bringing you here, at least now I can get to you....we will soon meet, Sai chan~" she then giggled and started to look at the mirror again. The animals also started to get near her as they all saw her being so happy for the first time in a long time.

...

Back at the village, the fight was getting intense by the minute. Saito was facing against both bandit boss and exhaustion. He fought for too long and now the exhaustion finally started to kick in. He was barely defending against the monstrous attack of the bandit boss while dodging the rest of the attacks. 'I should finish this soon! The longer I wait the harder it's becoming!' he said in his mind as he dodge another attack by the war hammer.

Unknown to the two fighter, two shadows came from the forest and untied the village guards and the villagers one by one. It was the mother and daughter pair who was saved by Saito in the forest.

One by one, everyone were untied and retreated near the houses to protect themselves from the fight. The guards took their swords and formed an defensive line in front of the villagers just in case.

The fight fight was nearing its end as both fighters looked visibly tired. Just then an opening appeared in the attacks of the bandit boss. Saito didn't think much and crouched and slashed his blade towards the diaphragm of the bandit boss and retracted his blade as he stabbed at the center of his chest. Both of them stood there silently as Saito had his blade stabbed through his chest and came out on the other side and him raising his war hammer above his head.

The bandit boss spat a mouthful of blood and kneeled down on the ground. *chough* "Not bad kid *chough* congratulations! As the final wish of this dying man, what is your name? *cough*" he asked as he was on his last breath.

Saito brought his blade near his neck and looked at him as he said, "My name, is Saito Araya, I'm a Samurai". The bandit boss shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes and said, "do it".

Saito nodded his head and slit his neck with his blade, ending the life of the bandit boss. Silence prevailed once more over the square before cheers erupt in all side. All the villagers happily hugged each other and waved their hands in the air while the families hugged themselves close together. They all thought that they would be killed or sold as slaves at the beginning when the bandits took over the village. But now they were saved by an unknown warrior, who gave them their lives and loved ones back.

Saito didn't stand as the exhaustion finally got him as he collapsed on the ground with consciousness. "This is why I hate over working! Too exhausting!" he said as he stared at the clear blue sky. Clouds floating and birds flying while the air blew a soft breeze. If it was not a mud floor, it would be too soothing.

Just as he was mesmerized by the sky, a figure approached him. He turned towards the figure and saw that it was a middle aged man. He quickly got up and removed his helmet as he face him. As he removed his helmet, all the girls started to shriek as how good looking he was. He looked almost handsome, above average looking actually and young. Even the villagers were surprised to see an young boy like him fight against a bandit of that caliber.

The man in front of him spoke, "thank you very much for saving us and our village, as the village head I deeply thank you!" he bowed as he said thank you. Saito immediately grabbed his shoulders and lifted it and said, "it's nothing, I just did what anyone would have done in the situation, if you want to thank someone you should thank those pair of mother and daughter for getting me here" he then pointed at the mother and daughter duo. All of the villagers looked at them with greatness in their eyes, some even approached them to thank them with teary eyes.

The village head turned towards him and said, "still we should thank you for putting your life on the line to save us all" he held his hand tightly with a smile on his face and tear on the corner of his eyes.

Saito just smiled and said, "well of course you can help me by paying up". The face of the village head dropped when he heard him say and same goes for the villagers. Pay him up? Did they hear him correctly?

Looking at their expression Saito frowned and asked, "did you all think I'll just save you all for free? A wise man once said, "Never do a job your good at for free" so pay up!". The villagers were brought back to the reality and the village head brought his trademark smile back and asked, "very well! How much is your payment?". He thought for a moment and asked, "How much can you give?".

The village head turned towards the villagers and looked at them. They all nodded their heads with a smile on their faces. They were given their lives back! So even if they gave all their money, it won't be enough to show then gratitude and of course they won't give all their money.

The village head once again face Saito and said, "is 300 gold coins enough? That's all we can do for the mome-" before he could finish, Saito cut him off by saying, "deal!". The village head was shocked to see him accept only this much. If it were others, they might have bargained a bit and raised the price to at least 500. Yet he immediately accepted it. It proves that he should be a total beginner in bussiness or he has a good heart.

Of course Saito knew that he could have made a bargain with him and raised the price, after all he fought with his life on the line for some complete stranger. He immediately accepted it because he knew that they all had needs. If he just said that he is good and don't need any reward, he will be the biggest idiot the world has ever seen and he knew it. So he asked for payment which will be useful to him and the villagers don't have to owe him anything.

The village head said, "please wait for a while as I go get your reward" he turned around to leave as he heard Saito speak again, "and also some herbs for injury if you don't mind". The village head nodded his head and went to gather the rewards.

As the head leave his side, the villagers started to pour at him.

"Hey hey, where did you come from?"

"Where did you get your equipments? They are so different!"

"How did you perform that energy attack?"

"Where did you learn that fighting style of yours? It was so awesome that you fought with guys who had sword aura!"

"Can you teach me how to fight like you?"

All sort of questions were thrown at him. He calmly answered them, mostly lies. Soon the village head returned with a a box. Everyone made way for him as he came toward Saito.

The head came near him and opened the box. Inside it was a pendent which had a crystal. He looked at it with surprise. Even the villagers were shocked too see the pendent. They knew what it was so they were also surprised to see the village head give him this. The village head then spoke, "you are not from around here right?". Saito just nodded his head and didn't say anything.

"This pendent here is a storage pendent and that stone there is a space stone enchanted by space magician, it has a storage space of 8x8 cubic meter. Your rewards are inside this and to take it out, you just need to concentrate your mana in it and you will know the rest yourself" the village head said as he handed the pendent to Saito. He got the pendent from him and wore it on his neck. He didn't know anything about how mana works, but he did remember Nirashi mentioning about how this world has a lot of spiritual energy which is technically mana. He then called her and asked in his mind, "Nirashi, do you have any idea on how this works?". She replied, "yes master, its quite simple actually, even you can do it".

He immediately piqued up and asked, "how!? Teach me!". She then said, "just imagine an energy line connecting you and this crystal and you can see what is inside it". "Wait that's it? Not some magical words or concentrate your spiritual power inside and reach the level of nirvana or something? Just like that?" he asked with a loud voice in his mind. Nirashi just chuckled and said, "its nothing like that master, its just simple as this".

He let out a *sigh* and did as she said. He could really see what was inside the crystal. There were 300 gold coins, some herbs and some food.

He then said, "thank you! Well then, I'll be in my way now". He then turned towards the forest and started walking. "Are you leaving that soon? Do you have a job to attend to? If not you can stay in our village for a while" said the girl he saved earlier.

He tilted his head backwards and said, "I got things that need to be done so I'll leave you to your work" with that he left the village and disappeared into the forest.

...

Inside the Shadow Palace, the Lohar the lord of the 7th Hell was trying his hard to not laugh. "This guy is awesome! "Never do a job your good at for free" huh? Nice one!" he said. Even Agiel himself was giggling. "Well my lord, now I'm interested in what he can do" Agiel said. "Same can be said for me, I wonder what he will do? If he proves to be worthy, I'll mark him the main piece in my upcoming game" he said with a smile which is enough to take the hearts of young maidens.